Ukraine launches sweeping mobilization overhaul to fix years of draft failures

“We are currently working on a comprehensive reform of mobilization. We will propose a systemic solution to address problems that have accumulated over the years while at the same time preserving the country’s defense capability,” he wrote on social media on Feb. 23.

Fedorov said 90% of mobilization deferments were extended automatically through the Reserve+ application — without applications, certificates or visits to territorial recruitment and social support centers, Ukraine’s military draft offices.

Until recently, he said, the process took weeks and consumed substantial resources. Now the system independently verifies data through state registries and extends deferments automatically.

The shift, he added, allows the ministry to move away from manually processing tens of thousands of applications and supporting documents and refocus on core defense tasks.

On Jan. 14, Fedorov said approximately 2 million Ukrainians liable for military service are currently wanted, while about 200,000 service members are AWOL.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Fedorov had identified the Defense Ministry’s first priorities, including resolving problems with military draft offices.

“Ukraine’s Defense Ministry will propose systemic solutions to the problems that have accumulated with draft offices. Decisions have already been made to ensure a fairer distribution of personnel among combat brigades. But much larger-scale changes are needed in the mobilization process that will guarantee more opportunities both for Ukraine’s Defense and Security Forces and for economic processes in our state,” the president said.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine ultimately wants to move the Defense Forces entirely to a contract-based system but lacks the funding to do so. European partners could help finance that transition, he said.

On Feb. 6, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said territorial recruitment and social support centers account for about 90% of mobilization into the Defense Forces, with recruiting centers contributing roughly 10%.